Americans United - James Dunnhttps://www.au.org/tags/james-dunn
enRemembering James Dunn: Baptist Champion Of Religious Freedomhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/remembering-james-dunn-baptist-champion-of-religious-freedom
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>When I began working for Americans United in 1987, one thing confused me: Why were there so many Southern Baptists hanging around?</p><p>Southern Baptists were the enemy – or so I thought. After all, they were extremely conservative and always advocating things like school prayer amendments and anti-LGBT legislation.</p><p>Then, a diminutive man in a bow tie named James M. Dunn set me straight. Sure, some Southern Baptists – the fundamentalists – do those things, he explained, but lots of other Baptists are much more moderate and hew to a proud Baptist tradition of religious liberty for all undergirded by the separation of church and state.</p><p>James introduced me to great Baptist heroes like John Leland, Isaac Backus and Thomas Helwys. My work at Americans United was enriched because I had the privilege of knowing James Dunn.</p><p>Dr. Dunn, <a href="http://bjconline.org/james-m-dunn-1932-2015/">who died July 4 at age 83</a>, served as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) from 1981-99. During that period, he was in the thick of several church-state battles.</p><p>When President Ronald Reagan began pushing a school prayer amendment, James was there to stand up and explain why authentic prayer and faith can never be legislated by government. Some years later, in the mid-1990s, U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) introduced an even more far-reaching “religious freedom” amendment that would have mixed up church and state like a salad. James again raced to the ramparts and played a leading role in that misguided measure’s defeat.</p><p>James opposed government funding of religious institutions, vouchers and “faith-based” initiatives. He was a colorful character who never hesitated to speak his mind. When Al Gore, while running for president in 2000, announced his support for faith-based funding, Dunn, who knew Gore personally and considered him a friend, <a href="https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.ufemgktU.dpuf">wrote an open letter</a> to the vice president that began, “Dear Mr. Vice President, I know you. I like you. You mean well. But this time, as we say in Tennessee and Texas, you’ve ripped your britches.”</p><p>Dr. Dunn served for nearly 20 years on Americans United’s Board of Trustees, including a stint as board vice president. When he retired from the BJC in 1999, we knew he wouldn’t just fade away. James wasn’t that kind of guy. Sure enough, Dr. Dunn decamped to Wake Forest University’s divinity school in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he taught classes in Christianity and public policy. You can bet that his students learned the real story of church-state separation in America.</p><p>James Dunn led a rich and full life. It was a life that meant something because it was dedicated to one of our most important principles – freedom of conscience. I am a better and more effective advocate for this cause because of what I learned from Dr. Dunn. And I’m not the only one who can say that. Pulpits and classrooms across this nation are sprinkled with clergy and teachers who studied under Dunn and were mentored by him. (In 2011, Aaron Douglas Weaver, a doctoral student at Baylor University, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/James-M-Dunn-Soul-Freedom/dp/1573125903">published a book</a> about Dunn titled <em>James M. Dunn and Soul Freedom</em>, which Bill Moyers of PBS lauded as “an important book on a true Baptist hero.”)</p><p>Among my prized possessions is a hand-written note from Dunn dated Oct. 28, 2013. He had brought some students to Washington, D.C., and asked me to speak to them. He thanked me for my time and added that he was pleased to know that advocates at Americans United would continue this work because, “I’m aware that I’ll not be able to keep it up many more years.”</p><p>How do you memorialize a man like that? Here’s one thought: You take the ideas and principles he stood for, dedicate yourself anew to them and work for them even harder.</p><p>That is precisely what I intend to do. </p><p> </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/james-dunn">James Dunn</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/baptist-joint-committee">Baptist Joint Committee</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/aaron-douglas-weaver">Aaron Douglas Weaver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/wake-forest-university">Wake Forest University</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/al-gore">Al Gore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-leland">John Leland</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/isaac-backus">Isaac Backus</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/thomas-helwys">Thomas Helwys</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ernest-istook">Ernest Istook</a></span></div></div>Mon, 06 Jul 2015 14:22:53 +0000Rob Boston11251 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/remembering-james-dunn-baptist-champion-of-religious-freedom#commentsDiplomatic Demands: Vatican Vetoes U.S. Ambassador Candidates Who Fail Religious Test https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/diplomatic-demands-vatican-vetoes-us-ambassador-candidates-who-fail
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">So now it appears that not only must the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican be Catholic, they must oppose legal abortion as well.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>One of my heroes in the church-state world is a feisty Southern Baptist minister named James Dunn.</p>
<p>James ran the <a href="http://www.bjcpa.org/">Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty</a> here in Washington for many years. He is firmly grounded in the historic Baptist view that separation of church and state is good for both institutions. Woe to anyone who suggested that James was operating out of hostility toward religion. A man of deep faith, James would quickly set you straight on that.</p>
<p>I recall hearing James speak once on the issue of diplomatic ties between the Vatican and the United States. He said he was uncomfortable with the idea and noted that every U.S. ambassador to the Vatican had been Roman Catholic. It might not be a bad idea, he opined, to send a Baptist over there for a change.</p>
<p>Apparently that's not going to work. The Vatican would probably send him packing.</p>
<p><em>The Washington Times</em> reported yesterday that the Holy See <a href="http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/embassy-row-7410554/">has rejected</a> at least three candidates put forth by President Barack Obama to be U.S. ambassador. The prospects were apparently blackballed because they hold pro-choice views on abortion.</p>
<p><em>The Times</em>, citing an Italian journalist, reported, "Papal advisers told Mr. Obama's aides privately that the candidates failed to meet the Vatican's most basic qualification on the abortion issue."</p>
<p>When U.S.-Vatican ties were proposed during the Reagan administration, Americans United vigorously opposed the move and warned that there would be problems down the line. It just wasn't right, AU argued, for the U.S. government to have formal diplomatic relations with a church. (Our ambassador goes not to the Vatican City State, an alleged country of about 110 acres within the city of Rome, but to the Holy See – the international headquarters of the church.)</p>
<p>Americans United tried to raise some of these issues in court, challenging the diplomatic exchange on church-state grounds. Unfortunately, a federal appeals court refused to deal with the issue and dismissed the lawsuit on a technicality, saying AU did not even have the right to even bring the case.</p>
<p>So now it appears that not only must the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican be Catholic, they must oppose legal abortion as well. I wonder what other qualifications a potential ambassador must meet? Must he or she oppose same-sex marriage as well? Can he or she be divorced? Will someone check up on the candidate to make certain he or she attends mass every week?</p>
<p>Imposing such qualifications on ambassadors would seem to violate the clear provisions of Article VI of the Constitution, which bans religious tests for federal office.</p>
<p>Here's an idea: Obama should name one more ambassador candidate and send his or her name to the Vatican with no vetting where that candidate stands on abortion or any other doctrinal issue. (Caroline Kennedy's name <a href="http://www.pewsitter.com/view_news_id_17166.php">has been floated</a>, but I'd still like to see James Dunn get it.) If the Vatican says no to that person, leave the spot vacant. After all, it should never have been created in the first place.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/baptist-joint-committee-religious-liberty">Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/caroline-kennedy">Caroline Kennedy</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/diplomacy">diplomacy</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/holy-see">Holy See</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/james-dunn">James Dunn</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roman-catholic-church">Roman Catholic Church</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vatican">Vatican</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vatican-ambassador">Vatican ambassador</a></span></div></div>Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:05:00 +0000Rob Boston1971 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/diplomatic-demands-vatican-vetoes-us-ambassador-candidates-who-fail#comments